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October 19 – Samora Machel Day in Mozambique

Michael Knox

October 19, 2015

nPostednon October 19, 2015

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nAnmemorial service will be held at the Samora Machel Monument, innMozambique, today.

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nYounsee, it is the anniversary of a plane crash that killed this nationalnhero, Mozambique’s first president, in 1986.

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ArtistnJosénForaj designed two parts for the monument: a display of some of thenwreckage of the plane, and 35 tubes of steel. Each tube stands for anperson who died in the crash, and the tubes were designed so that thenwind blowing over, between, and through the tubes would create anwailing sound.

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Anlibrary is located near the monument, a multi-lingual slab tells anbit about Machel, and a statue of Machel, donated by Norwegiannartists, now stands at the monument as well.

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nWhonwas Samora Machel?

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nWasnhe a villager born to a family of farmers?

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nWasnhe a fifth-grade dropout?

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nWasnhe a nurse?

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nWasnhe a protestor who rose through the ranks of the Frentende Libertação de Moçambique – Mozambique’snliberation movement – to become president of the movement?

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nWasnhe a believer in communism?

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nYesnto all of that. Of course, Machel was more. He was a complex guy, anhero to some and a villain to others. He became president of hisnnation while Mozambique was still fighting for independence fromnPortugal. Machel quickly nationalized land and institutions, andnalthough the nation was supposed to be a people’s nation, anworker-peasant’s nation, the people as such didn’t get to vote fornMachel or other national leaders. n

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nInnother words, Machel was definitely not a democratically-electednpresident.

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Machelnseems to have been guilty of human rights violations, and his rulenwas marred by wars, including civil wars. When his plane went down onnthis date in 1986, several people and groups suspected that the crashnwas caused by Machel’s enemies. An investigation pointed to pilotnerror, but neither the the Soviet government nor the Mozambiquengovernment accepted the findings of the commission (the plane, pilot,nand crew were all Soviet). To this day nobody is certain if the crashnwas an accident or an assassination.

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nAlsonon this date:

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